Indian Antiquary Vol 62

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 44

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ FEBRUARY, 1933
MISCELLANEA. A SINHALESE-PANDYAN SYNCHRONISM. 1913, 517.531, which would give Sena I, c. 823-843 In the time of Sena I, according to the Cala- A.D., and Sena II, 843-876 A.D. Mr. K. V vamsa (Mhu. 50, 12-42), a Pandyan king invaded Subrahmanya Aiyar, relying on Wijesinha's dating Ceylon, ravaged the Northern Province, and sacked infers that this back of Madura marks the end of the capital. Sens made terms, and the Pandyans Varaguna II's reign (Ancient Deccan, p. 141), quitted the island.
while Prof. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri would discredit In the next reign, that of Sena II (Mhe. 51, the Sinhalese account altogether, regarding it 27-51), a disgruntled son of the Pandyan king as a more repetition of the Sinhalese invasions of appealed to the Sinhalese monarch for help againat Madura in the twelfth century, interpolated in his father. A Sinhalese invasion of the Madura Mhe. 51 "to take off the edge from the story of kingdom followed, the capital was sacked, the the conquest of Ceylon " in Sene I's reign (The Pandyan king died of his wounds and his son Påndyan Kingdom, p. 71). was enthroned by the Sinhalese Commander-in- More recently Prof. Geiger, in part II of his Chief in his stead.
edition of the Calavamia (1930), has again revised On the Pandyan sido the only reference to a the dating of the Sinhalese kings of this period, war with Ceylon is tho bare mention in the largers and assigns to Sena I, C, 831-851 A.D., and to Sena II, Sinnamanůr plates of A victory won over the king c. 851-886 A.D. The expedition of Sena II to of Simhala by Śrf-Mêra, son of Varaguna I, and Madurà occurred according to the Ataviragolla va father of Varaguna II (8. I. I., 3, pp. 457, 461). inscription (E. Z., 2, p. 44) in the ninth year of his Of a counter-invasion nothing is said.
reign, which would be c. 860 A.D. socording to The your of Varaguna II's accession is generally Prof. Geiger's scheme. The nearness of this accepted as c. 862 A.D. (Aivarmalai inscription, computed date to that of Varagupa II's accession Md. 242 of V. Rangacharya's list, corroborated by (862 A.D., some time between March 22nd and tho Tiruvellarai inscription, Tp. 683, 800 E.I., November 22nd, as calculated by Sewell) suggests 11, 263).
that Varaguna II wrested the Pandyan throne This date does not fit either the traditional from his father Sri-Māra with the help of Sena II. dating of the Mhv. (Wijosinho) which gives Sena I, This synchronism, if valid, is important, and proves 846-866 A.D. and Sena II, 866-901 A.D.; nor the soundness of Prof. Geiger's judgment. with the scheme suggested by Hultzsch in JRAS.,
F. J. RICHARDS.
BOOK-NOTICES. A COMPARATIVE AND ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY In his Linguistic Survey of India Sir Georgo OF THE NEPALI LANGUAGE, by R. L. TURNER, Grierson classifies this language, which he calls M.C., M.A. With Indexes of all Words quoted Eastern Pahari or Naipali (here using the Sanskritio from other Indo-Aryan Language compiled by form, while Prof. Turner adopts the form Nepali Dorothy R. Turner, M.A. 12 X 9 inches; PP. as locally pronounced) as one of the Pahari lan. xxiv + 935. London, Kegan Paul, Trench guages of the Inner Sub-Branch of the Indo-Aryan Trübner & Co., 1931.
Branch. Prof. Turner tells us that Nepali original. This admirable dictionary is the outcome of ly belonged to & dialect-group which included 16 years' work; and the labour involved in its the ancestors of Gujarati, Sindhi, Lahnda, preparation will be apparent from its contents Panjab and Kindt. As the speakers of the to all linguists. Suffice it to state that dictionaries 80-called Pahari languagee, moving along the and vocabularies of fifty languages and dialects, foot-hills of the Himalaya, settled down in their including, be it noted, the Gypsy languages, have now homes, these languages lost touch with their been systematically examined for the purpose relatives in the north-west, and developed in. of the etymological notes and the indexes. In dependently. Being brought into close contact the preface the author states his aim as having with the dialects of the plains to the south, they been to give all those interested in the Aryan shared with them important sound changes. So, languages of India gonorally, and in Nepali in in the case of Nepali wo find the Hindi and Bihari particular, a dictionary in which for the first timo
dialects exercising a strong and apparently inthe attempt is made to indicate with some degree
creasing influence. Among the modern Indo. of scientific accuracy the etymologies of an Indo
Aryan languages Nepali is most closely allied to Aryan language as a whole. The indexes have
Kumaoni, its neighbour on the west. This been planned to enable those concerned with Indo-Aryan languages other than Nepali to use
linguistic ovidence corroborates the historical the etymological material here collected. Right
information we possess as to the introduction in well have these aims been accomplished : the result
comparatively recent times of this form of Indois a work that should serve as a guide for future | Aryan speech into Nepal. For it must be re. Indian lexicography.
membered that most of the languages spoken in